


Hometown

by tocasia



Series: Our Shining Past [49]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AU, Angst, Chocobos, Expectations, Fix-It, Gen, Gongaga, Homecoming, Jealousy, Memories, Sad, Sephiroth and Zack friendship, emotions are tough, incredible bravery, rental buggy joyride, rewind the tape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 10:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tocasia/pseuds/tocasia
Summary: "This is a request for reactor repair.""Aww, not Nibelheim again."Watching Zack's face carefully, Sephiroth said, "No. Gongaga."(33. return) for Seph&Zack Friendship 100 Themes





	Hometown

_“We worry about tomorrow like it’s promised.”_ \- Unknown

* * *

The shredder obediently devoured a report so secret it shouldn't have been written in the first place.

Mercifully, Zack came into his office, welcome relief from the tedium.

"Hey Seph, whatcha doin'?"

"Very dangerous paperwork."

"What's so dangerous about it?"

"I don't know. But it wouldn't have been assigned to me if it weren't dangerous." Sephiroth selected the next form with a dramatic flourish.

"Right."

"This is a request for reactor repair."

"Aww, not Nibelheim again."

Watching Zack's face carefully, Sephiroth said, "No. Gongaga."

As expected, Zack hesitated with uncomfortable apprehension.

"Yeah... not sure I wanna go back there."

"I want you to consider it. If I were you, I'd want to see them."

"I dunno. After all these years, it'll be awkward...."

"Family is always awkward. Or so I have heard."

Zack did not refute this.

"You should at least let them know you're alright. Even if you don't get along, this is a chance..."

"I get that you want this for me because you don't have it, but I need time to decide!"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. What was so upsetting about his suggestion that Zack dared to rub it in?

"Is it dangerous for you to go back? I assumed your childhood was a happy one, but..."

"Damn Seph, no, that's not why! It wasn't like that!"

Okay, good to know. Why didn't Zack ever believe Sephiroth when he made a similar assertion?

Zack flinched appropriately upon recognizing the parallel. But petty revenge did not satisfy, and Sephiroth regretted his choice of target and lamented humanity's shared universal misunderstanding of good intentions.

"The short notice is not my doing. Tonight a helicopter will depart for Junon. From there an overnight flight on the Gelnika across the ocean, and in the morning I will drive a rental buggy from Costa del Sol to Gongaga. You are under no pressure to do so, but if you wish to join me, be at the rooftop helipad at 2100 hours. Bring sufficient gear for three days, including materia and your own tent if you'd rather avoid the inn."

"Yessir."

"Dismissed. I await your decision."

Zack saluted him and left.

* * *

Six hours later...

Sephiroth stood under his umbrella, waiting. The pilot hadn't attempted to make conversation, which was fine with him. Cool, fresh raindrops splashed on the pavement, an innervating breeze stirred the air. No rolling thunder, no threat of a greater storm.

Zack would show up any minute now. The little guilt trip, along with assurance of a safe place to stay, should have done it.

But what if he didn't?

It was difficult to face one's past. Sephiroth wouldn't blame him.

He hadn't ordered, so he shouldn't be disappointed if Zack rejected his offer. No, he'd be proud of his generosity in giving his second-in-command a choice. He should respect that choice. He shouldn't take it personally. Maybe he should even apologize for nagging.

He'd successfully convinced himself Zack wasn't coming when he detected footsteps on the stairs.

"Lieutenant General Fair, SOLDIER First Class, reporting for duty sir!"

Sephiroth nodded and gestured for Zack to board first, and then they were off.

* * *

With blue skies and wispy clouds mirrored in its chrome accents, the buggy skimmed over waves of grass plumed with feathery seedheads. Speeding across the open plains south of Costa del Sol at an exhilarating pace, they could talk freely.

"It's nice to get out of Midgar for a while. I'm glad you decided to join me."

The buggy had a cassette player. Zack had a mixtape. He was humming along.

"Yeah, me too, I guess."

An ominous moment of quiet between songs.

"They never wrote back, Seph."

Oh. Zack hadn't told him that.

Zack said, "Do you think something happened to the letter?"

"I don't know. It's possible, of course."

"Do you think they'll be happy to see me? Do you think they'll still be mad?"

"You haven't told me anything about it," Sephiroth replied. "Depending on the circumstances of your leaving, probably some of both."

"I hope they're okay. What if it's all a misunderstanding?"

"That's what you get to find out."

"I wonder if maybe I should've brought them something? I have no idea what they'd like though."

"I wouldn't know. I'm not a mystical font of estranged family reunion advice."

Zack shut up.

The tape reached the last track according to the display on the dash. Sephiroth cursed his bitterness. He wasn't looking forward to the silence during the rewind anymore.

"You know Seph, there's two versions of this song."

"Yes."

"Which one's your favorite?"

"This one. The one where they forgive each other."

"Mine too. I'll make you a copy."

"Thank you."

"Hey, over there, is that...?" Zack pointed ahead and to the left.

There was a flock of chocobos on the horizon. Several sported exotic colors. Pale blue, purple, red.... Feral racers. Hmm.

"Gimme the wheel! Let's see how fast this goes! I'm gonna catch up to 'em, if I can."

Ha! "Alright. Remember it's a rental." He was mostly joking. Zack was a careful driver of everything except motorcycles.

"No problem. I know a guy in Cosmo Canyon who'll fix it for 1000 gil."

"Don't make that necessary."

"Yessir!"

Zack's grin was contagious. Sephiroth leaned back in the passenger seat and relaxed. For the birds to run alongside their buggy, fluffy blurs, pretending to race, playful in the wild... very few things were as cheerful as that.

* * *

They made it to the edge of the jungle by mid-afternoon.

"Man, I didn't think these trees could get any bigger!"

Light filtered through the forest canopy. The leaf-strewn sandy soil was lined with ferns Sephiroth couldn't identify. Not that he was an expert. 

"I remember the trail being pretty narrow."

Sephiroth parked the buggy in adequate sheltering shade where monsters were unlikely to bother it. He pocketed the key. "Then we'll continue on foot."

"That one's new!" Zack pointed to a fallen log that bridged the gap created by the path. It was huge, and they didn't have to duck to walk underneath.

Sephiroth followed Zack at the fork.

"Watch out!"

Zack shoved him aside, deflected the mature Flower Prong's laser with his sword, sliced the monstrous plant in half, and incinerated the remains with a Fire spell so it couldn't re-sprout. Impressive.

"Ha! Those were way scarier when I was a kid." Zack struck a victory pose.

"I can imagine." They'd probably been epic battles and very inspiring.

"That was my childhood dream, you know. To be able to protect people, like my uncle did. There are a lot of tough monsters in the jungle."

Sephiroth skewered a three-headed Kimara Bug that thought it could slow them down. "But you didn't stay here."

"Nah, I had to join SOLDIER. Because there are even more tough monsters out in the world. There's more to protect than one village."

"That's true." Although, calling what they'd done in Wutai protection was a stretch.

"Is that woodsmoke from the chimneys? It smells like home. It's nice."

"We're close," Sephiroth agreed. If only he had a memory like that.

"Should I stay at the inn? But then they'll be mad if they find out I didn't come to them first... but I don't want to assume I'd be welcome there... man...."

"Up to you. We don't have to make the arrangements until after we scout the town and gather information on the reactor."

"Oh, right." Zack ran a nervous hand through his spikes. "Sir."

* * *

The ground sloped upward, and from the higher elevation in the town proper they could see the reactor puffing billowing towers of steam in the distance. There was a clear area between it and the surrounding jungle, probably for safety reasons in case there was a fire.

"Wow, Gongaga's really grown since they built that thing! It might be hard to find my house!"

Sephiroth had walked farther up the ridge. "I wonder if anyone ever came to do maintenance on it before us. Hopefully we're in time to prevent a meltdown."

"Doesn't seem that bad, sir."

Sephiroth shook his head. "It's not obvious, but I can smell it in the fumes. Don't you? It's been failing slowly, for a while."

Shifting to SOLDIER-level awareness, Zack sniffed and nearly retched. Mako never smelled great to him, and this was worse. "Okay, yeah, something's wrong. What kind of malfunction is it?"

"I don't know yet. The monsters we fought on the way here were healthy enough, and no one has their doors barred against illness. The situation reeks of incompetence, not malice. But I want you to confirm it. Ask around, and report any significant rumors to me. I'll be in the reactor, starting the inspection."

"Yessir."

"This is your opportunity." Sephiroth continued surveilling the forest, planning the path he would take.

"Thank you sir." Zack saluted and began his super-top-secret mission in earnest.

* * *

Wandering through town was surreal. Despite the crowds, it felt kinda empty, like the memories were of some other place and wouldn't survive the move.

In Zack's dreams of a heroic homecoming, he'd be amiably fending off an enthusiastic swarm of fans. They'd cheer his name with bold admiration! They'd ooh and aah at his cool sword tricks! He'd completely rock his SOLDIER uniform, best looking guy for miles around!

There wasn't any of that. Zack returned their curious smiles, but the kids didn't talk to him. Their parents held them tight. He was a stranger to the people he had fought for. It wasn't fair.

He saw the houses of his childhood friends; new trees, and old ones missing; different paint colors; gardens kept or not. Streets gained intersections, fancy cobblestone instead of dirt. Trucks wider than the buggy baked in the rusting heat. Was there a road through the jungle he didn't know about? He used to know them all! How could his hometown have changed so much in... eight years...? Wow.

This was it. His house. The address he remembered, although the details weren't the same. Weird-shaped shutters, a bigger porch.

Zack was brave. He knocked on the door.

And waited.

He felt like his habitual standing-at-attention wasn't good enough, which was silly. His practiced decorum was _perfect_. And also not good enough. Was a relaxed stance better? What was he going to _say?_ A formal plea for forgiveness? A casual hello? Mama, did you miss me? He'd have to improvise. But so would they! They'd be surprised to see him too. It'd be awkward. But maybe only at first? Maybe they had read his name in the papers and were proud of him... or the opposite. They'd recognize him though, right? His own parents?

Someone was coming! He put on a goofy smile.

A young man with red hair opened the door. He had a well-groomed beard and was wearing a medium-tier gray business suit. Zack guessed they were about the same age.

"Who're you?" the man said.

Zack did a double take. Did he have the wrong house? "I'd like to speak to Mr and Mrs Fair please."

The man didn't block his view entirely, and he peered into the darkened living room. Yep, familiar diagonal hardwood planks, the beautifully laid floors he'd been yelled at for dropping things on. But the tusked golden mask he'd been afraid of was absent from the wall, and the table was rectangular with a green tablecloth instead of round with the stripy orange-and-yellow tablecloth that had matched the fuzzy long-tailed fur rug, which _was_ still there.

"Why?" The man's sensible suspicion hurt. 

"I'm...." I'm their son, he wanted to say. 

"They don't live here anymore. I bought this house six years ago." 

Zack was brave. "Do you know what happened to them?" 

"Nope, can't help you there. Maybe ask at the inn. Hey... the glare in your eye... you in SOLDIER?" 

"Yeah."

"Shinra's always been good to us. Do you want to come in sir?"

"Thank you, no."

"Anything else, sir?"

"Thank you for your time. Sorry to bother you."

The man closed the door. And locked it. 

Zack forced himself to walk away. 

* * *

Inside the reactor, Sephiroth heard Zack approaching from behind. Heavy footfalls echoed on the metal grate. This close to the roar of the main reservoir it was hard to tell if they were excited or distraught.

The last of the drying-up Mako spill oozed sluggish black and evaporated into fine dust.

"I've fixed the leak. We'll need to replace this part. Did you bring the spare?"

"Yessir." Zack sounded upset, and... ashamed?

Sephiroth lifted the new section of sturdy cogwheel and fused it to the old with a Bolt spell. "What did you find?"

"Coming back feels more lonely than if I'd stayed away."

He listened.

"Like, I don't belong here anymore. I expected something different. Like, we'd have a fight, or they'd somehow forgive me, or it'd be a lukewarm welcome but turn out okay."

"It didn't go well then."

"They're gone. Someone else lives there now."

Oh. "I'm sorry."

Zack laughed bitterly, reminding him unpleasantly of himself. "It's not your fault."

"I hate to say this, but... we can't abandon the mission, regardless of our feelings. As per regulations, we'll stay another day to make sure the reactor is safe, and we'll ask the townspeople if they require assistance with anything before we leave. Understood?"

"Yessir. I always hate saying that, too."

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Zack hiked the short distance to the buggy alone. Morning dew enabled the sand sticking to his boots. No one had wanted help yesterday and there was no further trouble with the reactor. He'd spent his free time avoiding the past.

"Are you ready to go?" Sephiroth had already started the engine.

Zack climbed into the front seat. "Yeah, let's get out of this shithole."

Sephiroth frowned at him, concerned.

"...and back to Midgar, before Aeris disappears on me, too!"

"She won't."

"How the hell do you know?"

"..."

" _How the hell do you know_ , Seph?!"

"Calm down."

"No! I had this hope of seeing them again for so long, and now it's gone! It's just gone! I threw it away and I don't deserve it back!"

"...do you really think so?"

Zack didn't trust himself to answer.

"Here." Sephiroth handed him a folded scrap of paper with torn margins and shadows of ink bleeding through.

"What's this?"

"The innkeeper gave me an address."

"Huh? They moved to Sector 2 in Midgar? But I asked him earlier! Why did he tell you when he didn't tell me?"

"He wanted to apologize that it had slipped his mind."

Zack took a deep breath for a ragged sigh.

"It doesn't have to be the end," Sephiroth encouraged.

"Finding my family's not your business!" Zack shouted. "Just... stay out of this!"

 _Shit!_ He'd just told _Sephiroth_ to fuck off for _being nice!_ He had maybe ten seconds to live.

10... 9... 8... seven-and-a-half....

"As you wish. I will respect your choice."

Was he supposed to say "thanks", or "sorry", or what? Zack stuffed the piece of paper into his pocket, and they traveled the rest of the way in silence.


End file.
